Aporrhaidae

Housing of Aporrhais pespelecani, from the coast of Catalonia

The Aporrhaidae are six extant species that feed a family of small to medium-sized, exclusively marine snails as filter feeders.

Features

The rechtsgewunden, solid housing of the Aporrhaidae have a high conical thread with about 8 convex whorls and on the case mouth, which is drawn out into a Siphonalkanal, a broadened, occupied with finger-like extensions outer lip. There is no navel. The horny operculum is small.

Life, the occurrence and distribution

The Aporrhaidae live in colder seas, usually at greater depths in sand and mud, where they dig and filter from the respiratory water detritus. The pelican, which occurs also in the North Sea, lives right up to 10 meters depth. The snails are dioecious with internal fertilization. From the eggs hatch veliger larvae that undergo a longer pelagic phase.

System

After Bouchet and Rocroi ( 2005), the family Aporrhaidae one of four extant families in the superfamily Stromboidea to those yet to come four fossil families. You divide the family Aporrhaidae in two extant subfamilies:

• Aporrhainae Gray, 1850 - synonym: Chenopidae Deshayes, 1865
• Arrhoginae Popenoe, 1983 - Synonyms: Alariidae Koken, 1889 ( void ); Dicrolomatidae Korotkov, 1992

These each comprise a genus, Aporrhais and Arrhoges.